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UPDATE: Plane crash victims identified

Small plane had just left Las Cruces Airport on its way to Phoenix

Sun-News report

Posted:
08/27/2014 09:14:06 PM MDT

Relatives of victims of a plane crash react after reaching the crash site a half-mile southwest of the Southern New Mexico State Fairgrounds. The plane crashed around 6:45 p.m. Wednesday and all four passengers on board died. (Carlos Javier Sanchez-Sun-News )

LAS CRUCES &GT;&GT; New Mexico state police have identified those killed in Wednesday's crash of a medical transport plane near the Las Cruces airport.

The plane had taken off from the Las Cruces Airport with a medical patient and three crew members to Phoenix, Arizona. At the time of the crash the immediate area was clear of rain, and wind, according to state police.

The plane was reported by witnesses as flying low to the ground prior to crashing. The four killed were identified as pilot Freddy Martinez, 29, of El Paso, Tauren Summers, 27, a flight paramedic from El Paso, flight nurse Monica Chavez, 35, of El Paso, and Fredrick Green, 59, the patient from Las Cruces.

The bodies of the deceased have been recovered and the next of kin have been notified, according to police.

The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board personnel will be arriving to the scene this morning to conduct their investigation.

LAS CRUCES &GT;&GT; A small plane carrying four passengers crashed near the Southern New Mexico State Fairgrounds on Wednesday, killing all on board.

New Mexico State Police Lt. James Frietze said the twin engine, fixed-winged aircraft crashed in the desert about a half-mile southwest of the fairgrounds at approximately 6:45 p.m.

A news release from state police described the plane as engulfed in flames.

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The aircraft had just left from the Las Cruces Airport and was headed to Phoenix, the news release said.

Amigos Aviation Service out of Harlingen, Texas, confirmed they owned the plane.

Witnesses - many of them law enforcement officers training at a nearby gun range, according to Frietze - told state police the aircraft was flying at a low altitude.

Due to the relatively small plane crash site, Frietze said it was likely the plane was not travelling at high speeds.

Frietze said the Federal Aviation Administration would be sending a team to the crash site at 6 a.m. Thursday.

Smoke rises from a plane crash about a half-mile southwest of the Southern New Mexico State Fairgrounds on Wednesday evening. The plane crashed around 6:45 p.m. and all four passengers on board died. (Carlos Javier Sanchez — Sun-News)

The last plane crash near the airport was in December 2012, when a single-engine airplane went down about 2 1/2 to 3 miles from the airport, south of Interstate 10. The plane's pilot was the only person in the aircraft, and appeared to be unhurt, according to Sun-News archives. A single-engine Cessna crashed shortly after takeoff from the Las Cruces Airport in May 2010. The pilot and two passengers suffered injuries, but were able to walk back to the terminal, the Sun-News reported.

Federal officials are expected today to investigate an airplane crash that, on Wednesday, claimed the lives of four people. (Lindsey Anderson -- Sun-News)

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